I started out at Schönalp-Hüttli which is located a bit above Unterägeri, a town located a 30 min. drive from where I live. My route took me via In den Gräben to Geissfaren and up to Halsegg and then the rest up to Wildspitz.Gestartet bin ich vom Schönalp-Hüttli, das ein wenig oberhalb von Unterägeri liegt, eine Ortschaft ca. 30 Minuten per Auto von mir zuhause entfernt. Meine Route führte mich via In den Gräben zum Geissfaren und hoch über die Halsegg zum Wildspitz.

Only a few minutes into the hike I started to wonder what all the buzz was about and that’s what presented itself to me:Nur ein paar Minuten nachdem ich gestartet war, wunderte ich mich über das aufgeregte Gesurre und im nächsten Moment stand ich vor diesen Gebilden:

Only a few more steps, you can do it! You can do it! / Nur noch ein paar Schritte, du schaffst das! Du schaffst das!

And when I arrived up top I knew why I’d come in the first place – this breathtaking view was my reward:Und als ich ob auf der Spitze ankam, wusste ich, warum ich eigentlich gekommen war – diese atemberaubende Aussicht war meine Belohnung:

My way back down took me over to the Gnipen which is the spot where in 1806 a massive rockslide broke loose and in its wake devastated four villages and causing a 20m high tsunami in the nearby lake Lauerz. This is the spot where the rock broke:Mein Weg zurück ins Tal führte mich über den Gnipen, wo 1806 der massive Bergsturz von Goldau losgebrochen war und in dessen Folge vier Dörfer zerstört wurden und der eine 20m hohe Flutwelle im nahegelegenen Lauerzersee auslöste. Dies ist die Abbruchstelle:

My mom and aunt established a Sunday morning bicycling routine a long time ago. I have no idea when they started it but I remember that at some point – when I had passed the teenage years and my twenties, the age known for “having to sleep in because I partied too hard on Saturday night” – I was grown up enough to get my chunk out of bed in time to enjoy the early hours of many a peaceful Sunday mornings. And I can tell you: It’s been worth it every single time.

So on today’s Sunday I rose and shone (maybe not so brightly to begin with ;-)) early as we agreed to meet at my – other – aunt’s house to have breakfast. She invited us over and we happily agreed to show up on time at 8:30am. This aunt, Marie, came to visit me in Austin with my mom and her friend in May 2015. Then last year she went through a rough spot and it was our pleasure to accept her invitation, seeing how she was in a much better place by now.

I thoroughly enjoyed today’s ride from Hausen am Albis, my place of residence high over the city of Zug down to the lake, along its shore to Arth and finally all the way around the lake and – yes – back up the hill again. At its altitude of 611 meters (2’005 ft) some might consider it a mountain J (in Switzerland a mountain only starts at the elevation of 1’000 meters = 3’281 ft).

Do you have a year-long routine you don’t quite know/remember how or why it started?

Despite the incessant rain today I went for a brief hike and got to enjoy landscape as green as any Irish cloverleaf. It was amazing.

The many cabins scattered throughout the woods always catch my attention. They remind me of bygone parties, animated talks and the odd spirit too many drunk in the past.

Today I crossed this beauty’s path:

It comes without saying that at least a couple of antlers have to adorn a real forest cabin.

The water fountain is covered under the awning of the porch while there’s also an “open air” fireplace and sitting area (and yep, that’s a patch of snow there… last Friday I woke up to a solid 20-30cm of heavy snow…).

The whole scene seen from the other side.

What especially charmed me was the outhouse right behind a patch of wild garlic 🙂 and next to a neatly stacked pile of fire wood.

Are you up of partying or simply enjoying an evening among friends in such a location? Do you have places like these nearby?

Saturday, March 19th, 2017 – Ever since I moved into my apartment there’s been one thing that’s been bothering me: The incredibly low pressure at which the water trickled out the kitchen faucet. So a couple of weekends back I decided to fix it: So I descaled the faucet, took it apart and built it together again the way it was supposed to fit together and – voilà: Ever since it’s been working like a charm. And to this day that makes me very happy. Small pleasures sweeten my life 🙂

Sunday, March 20th, 2017 – The week before last I fell sick. I’d caught the crud. My throat felt thick with a cold and over the weekend I got a very sore throat. It later turned into a bad cold with fever, coughing and sneezing galore.
So I put on my beanie and surrounded myself with my favorite stuffed animals… okay, my one favorite stuffed animal: Hedwig, the snow owl.

Monday, March 21st, 2017 – Later in the week I started to feel way worse and when the voice at the end of a 10 min. meditation session I tried to follow asked me how I was feeling now the first answer that shot through my head was “Like someone had stuffed my lungs through a meat grinder!”

Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017 – It has become customary for me to celebrate my second Birthday on March 22nd every year. It was that day in 1994 when I was rushed to the hospital with a thunderous headache (seriously, it felt as if that monster from the “Alien” movie tried to escape from my skull instead of my gut :-p) and a boiling fever, a stiff neck and arched spine. Turned out I had a bacterial meningitis and after a spinal punctuation to confirm the bacterial part they flushed me with antibiotics immediately. I was lucky the first antibiotics the pumped into my system worked and thus I am who I am today: A lucky one who has gotten through some rough patches.

Thursday, March 23rd, 2017 – That’s the face you make when your doc tells you that you’re not suffering from the flu but “just from a common cold”. The addition that it was a severe cold and undoubtedly serious doesn’t really help to pick up your ego after such a blow.

Friday, March 24th, 2017 – I dared to go for a walk as the weather forecast promised a lot of sun, thanks to the southern wind coming over the alps and usually bringing splendid weather with it. Unfortunately, the “Föhn” – or “chinook wind” as it is sometimes called by English speakers – was quite frosty and fierce this time and almost blew my hair off my head… as you notice my beanie’s already gone. Luckily, I took it off myself. And just in time – a ferocious gust of wind managed to blow a fellow walker’s cap off so he had to chase after it – and in my imagination he’s running after it to this very day.

Saturday, March 25th, 2017 – I have to admit: I’ve never been the biggest fan of curtains. Mostly because however thing they are they steal my daylight. So I try to avoid them wherever I can. Since I do have a pair of windows that is facing directly my neighbors windows/balcony door I decided I needed a little privacy, so I designed my own visual cover. I am pretty pleased with the result. And I dare say my neighbor doesn’t have much to complain about either.

What did you do last week? Did you manage to get healthy through this winter?

It’s not like I didn’t know anything about zentangling, meaning I could have attended the advanced course but I was interested to learn the basics, the phylosophy behind the whole zentangle movement. And it is fascinating, I’m telling you.

My very own first tile

The three hours were well spent, even if it meant that I sounded like a failing steam-engine Sunday morning. That would most certainly have happened anyway. At least now I know that I had three memorable hours with a bunch of creative ladies who to begin with thought they were utterly talentless but as it turned out they were all amazing artists. That’s the beauty of zentangling: It takes out the stress of competing with either your own expecations or others work – each and every piece is unique and beautiful in it’s own way. See for yourselves:

I hope you all had an inspiring weekend with at least one activity that took you to that place of calm contentment that one only finds when being in the here and now, finding the flow.What’s your go to activity to find that state?

I’ve been into sports more or less all my life. Not in a club or another specifically dedicated way but either watching it or just doing it for myself. As a kid is was mostly playing games that involved running around outside or sometimes playing soccer with my brother and his friends (if they let me). Of course I also had a bicycle, roller skates and at times a skateboard that kept me moving.

As a teenager I wasn’t crazy about gym class but in my spare time I still remained active and rode my bike pretty much everywhere. So that never stopped. But only at the age of 27 did I consciously take up running as a regular habit. At first I found it extremely arduous, I could hardly run a couple of hundred yards without sounding like a steam engine. But I kept at it and stuck with it ever since.

I’ve never turned into a fast runner but I can run moderate distances and as I run slowly I can run for quite a long time no problem. Record is around two and a half hours. In the past years I’ve participated in a few races but after each and every one I was convinced it was the last. I did not like the masses, running with other folks does not appeal to me at all and usually race day is simply not one of my “magical days” when I just get up and run as if I’d never done anything else.

Of course, exercise-induced asthma doesn’t help. But I’m starting to get accustomed to it and know how to work with it. I’ve found my peace with not being the fastest runner but instead concentrate on having fun while I’m out there enjoying nature in all it’s glory. And I think that’s why this year everything’s different.

First run this year… lots of snow to tread…

All of a sudden I’m chasing race after race. Or, well, let’s say I’m easily convinced to join in yet another one. One of my very best friends is an inspiring runner, duathlete and thriathlete. He recently joined the board of a runners club and asked me to join the club as well. He lured me in with the prospect of receiving 10 bucks for every race I finish that is on our race club’s list. So after only a couple of races I’ll have earned back my club fee and after that it’s pure cash… haha, it seems I’m a capitalist after all.

But to be honest, it’s not about the money at all. What spurs me this time is

a) The fact that all the races I’ve joined so far were only regional events with few runners and

b) I’m taking it so easy with the only goal being that I arrive – regardless of the time.

That does the trick. I’ve stopped agonizing about my performance but instead concentrate on the joys of running: The feeling of being healthy and able to run at all, the fresh crisp-clean air, the sounds, texture of snow or gravel under my feet, the friendly folks spurring the runners on, the other participants- joy – it’s all most inspiring. And guess what? I’ve been delivering my best results when it comes to times so far 🙂

Weeheee, soooo earned that medal!!

Now of course one might think I might be running away from something… which might make sense after as exhausting a year as the one I’ve just put behind me. But then again I’ve always been a rather positive person so I prefer to look at it the other way – I’m running towards something. Be it answers, a new beginning or simply the appreciation of a cleansing shower after the run 🙂

Dear readers, is there anything you totally changed your mind about over time?

I’ve been away from my blog – and pretty much all things social media in general – for almost two months. When looking around the blogger sphere I see this happening on a more or less regular basis, especially to blogger who have a day job, possibly staring into a screen more or less all day. I sometimes feel intimidated by the mere thought of spending more time in front of a screen so I rather spend my spare time doodling or painting, enjoying meditative yoga sessions or going for a run.

My return to Switzerland and the getting settled in again was both exhilarating yet exhausting. So when I finally and quite literally collapsed into my vacation over Christmas and New Year’s I decided to cancel all my plans except the ones with my family and to stay away from all “virtual” contacts. I needed to concentrate on the here and now and I regret nothing. I spent my time exactly as I had imagined, rediscovering my love for winter, snowfall, freshly powdered fields and both winter runs and hikes.

Luckily I got myself a pair of Goretex Reebok Trails at the close by Adidas Outlet store that now also carries Reebok products (no, I’m not getting paid to say this, I’m just a huge fan of the fact that I can get some reasonably priced Reebok products close by now). I’m super happy with the shoe as it has the profile to get me through all sorts of snow and mud without slipping once. While I’m usually not a huge fan of races one of my best friends asked me to join a New Year’s race of 12k which I joined last weekend. Though I was as slow as ever I did have a ton of fun enjoying the serene, white landscape and the unusually few runners competing in the race. And the ones who were there had the same goal as I did: Just enjoy the atmosphere, never mind the time. We joked and sang with the audience, motivated each other along the way and helped one another up if someone should slip on the icy path after all. That’s the spirit that pulls me back to races, makes me consider signing up for another race or two. And yes, the next one I’m registered for is very close to home and only 8k long but promises no less fun!

Unfortunately, my – literally – fast friend who’s running whatever race comes under his feet will be benched for the time coming: He had to get his shoulder fixed after having it dislocated for the umpteenth time. But he promised to come and cheer me on, so that should be good!!

Well, I guess I’ll keep you updated on my running, doodling and other shenanigans on a more frequent basis again. At least that’s the plan. But we know how live is: Every so often – or more often than not?! – it interferes and we’re left juggling our at times challenging everyday lives. But I’m determined to use this blog as an outlet for what’s going on. Maybe even on a deeper, more personal level… who knows what this new year will bring 😉

Though I do regret that my mum got a scare, I have to admit that I’m happy the spider found a home in her sleeve instead of mine. I would either have collapsed – screaming – or gotten an adrenalin rush that would have lasted for three days – not the most relaxing thought either.Auch wenn ich bedaure, dass meine Mum einen Schreck kriegte, so bin ich doch froh, hat sich die Spinne in ihrem, anstatt meinem Ärmel gemütlich eingerichtet hat. Ich wäre entweder schreiend zusammengebrochen oder hätte einen Adrenalinschub für drei Tage gekriegt – auch keine sehr entspannende Vorstellung.